Dr. Moses Gage Diary

Full Title

Dr. Moses Gage Diary

Description

After calculating the time since he had last written, Dr. Moses Gage, a physician in Bethel, New York, expressed the emotional whiplash many Americans felt at hearing the news of Lincoln's assassination after celebrating the surrender of General Robert E. Lee five days earlier.

Transcription

After a lapse of thirty years, five months & twenty three days I open this book to mark a record more sad and distressing than the one with which I ended so many years ago, then my regrets were for a young friend who passed away in the spring time of life. Yesterday, Friday the 14th Abraham Lincoln President of the U.S. was assassinated in the city of Washington, at the time when we were all congratulating our selves that the slaveholders rebellion was nearly over, and when hope pointed to the bright future, when the glory of this republic was about to be revealed, the man who had did more than all others was stricken down by the hand of the Assassin;--The ways of Providence are inscrutable it may be for the [--] we will hope--The hand of an assassin stabbed Secretary Seward thrice & he too is probably dead before this time.

Source

Vance Gage

Rights

This item may be reproduced and used for any purpose, including research, teaching, private study, publication, broadcast or commercial use, with proper citation and attribution.

Tags

• transcribed

• man

• denunciation: conspirators

• first reaction

• mourning

Cite this Item

Dr. Moses Gage. "Dr. Moses Gage Diary". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed November 22, 2024. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/695

Item Type

Diary

Creator

Dr. Moses Gage

Date

April 15, 1865

Region

Union states